ryan ford

When was the last time you stumbled across a set of rings or monkey bars outside of the gym? Possibly at a park? But what about the rest of your city? Compared to walls, fences, and gates, both rings and bars are extremely rare in the concrete jungle. A climb-up is the name of an … Read more

PREFACE: In 2015, we partnered with the biomechanics lab at the University of Colorado at Boulder to deconstruct the vertical wall run technique. Wall runs by 20 parkour coaches and athletes from various APEX schools were analyzed using wall-mounted force plates and high-speed cameras set up at APEX Boulder. Special thanks to Amos Rendao, Dr. Rodger Kram, Peter Lawson, Bryant Pham, and all the APEX athletes and coaches who took part in the study. — Ryan Ford

In my book Parkour Strength Training, I go into detail about the differences between the hard and soft landing techniques (AKA depth drop when used as a strength training exercise). Without going into a long explanation, know that depending on the circumstances of a drop (and your training goals), you may want to stay stiffer and taller in order to rebound quickly (hard landing) or you may want to absorb more deeply and silently (soft landing).